Nardelli's Pay Package Sparks Legislation

Home Depot Inc. Chief Robert Nardelli's $210 million severance package may be the catalyst for legislation aimed at executive pay

January 2007

Home Depot Inc. Chief Executive Officer Robert Nardelli's "egregious" $210 million severance package may be the catalyst for legislation that tries to rein in executive pay at U.S. companies.

Nardelli, 58, was ousted after Atlanta-based Home Depot’s shares dropped 7.9% and the company lost market share to Lowe’s during a six-year reign in which he earned $225 million. Nardelli’s exit pay includes $20 million in cash and compensation earned and not yet received.

"It's just egregious," Frank Glassner, chief executive officer of Compensation Design Group in New York, said in an interview yesterday. "For what the shareholders left on the table, versus what Bob Nardelli is going to take home, I would classify that not as pay for performance, but pay for attendance or pay for ego."

Comments from readers:

Posted by djacome - Jan 5 2007 @ 4:24 AM
on Home Depot: EPS good, quality of EPS not so good Nardelli did double profits, quintuple the dividend, and buyback 10% of the shares outstanding. Did he rip the cover off the ball? No. But he did a decent job @ a company that was in a tough position when he took the helm in 2000. People forget that all management can do is create the EPS; the Street decides the multiple. Since 2000, the Street has overlooked everything good about HD and only looked @ the worse. It is too bad. Nardelli should give back half the pay and walk away. DJ disclosure: long HD

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